>> barack obama is in the occupied was ranked and he is needing the -- the occupied west bank. he is meeting the palestinian president. it is good to have your company. also ahead, closed from is this. banks in cyprus keep their doors shut as leaders try to find their way out of the debt crisis. the un him and writes council demands the sri lankan government investigate alleged war crimes. and emotions run high in australia.

u.s. president barack obama is meeting the palestinian president must learn abbas in the occupied west bank during it is his first trip to both israel and the occupied palestinian territory since he became a presidential candidate .n 2008 gate let's go straight to nicole johnson who is in rom -- in ramala. tell us how talks have been so far. it seems that nicole cannot hear us right now. for now, we will carry on with

the truth of barack obama in ramala. he is thereafter spending some time in israel during he is due to return back to israel after spending a few hours in the west bank. i believe now we have nicole johnson in ramala. can you hear me? it seems that we once again have some audio difficulties. let's put this in some. as this visit happens, two explosions in southern israel, only a few hours ago, is a stark reminder of the reality on the ground. israeli police say that the rockets were fired from gaza. there are no reports of injuries.

the european central bank says it will cut off emergency aid to cyprus if a bailout plan is not drawn up i monday. the sip it -- by monday. they are trying to find a solution to solve the country's debt crisis. on wednesday, parliament rejected an eu proposal to tax people. remain closed until next week. now we can join peter sharp. hopefully you can hear me can what seems to be on the table for parliament? to sit in at is due few hours time. if all goes well, they will have in front of them plan b, which fiveway of finding the they 5.8on euros --

billion euros needed. we think inb may include something like this, but basically cyprus will be nationalizing its banks, it's pensions and taking the church property that has been offered to them and putting that in a pile and issuing bonds out of that. they hope that will come up with the necessary 5.8 billion. properties include 2 billion. the talks have been going on all day. russia hasn't come up all day. the talking will continue. when the members of parliament meets here in a few hours time, hopefully they'll be something on the table that they will be able to vote on.

>> define a balancing act for tryingrus government and to keeping you the eu happy and the people on the ground. what is happening on the streets? >> i think the financial reality aware.us is becoming amounts a limit to the of cash you can get out of the machines. some companies are only dealing in cash now. the electronic transfers have been slowed down. some have installed altogether. a lot of cards are not working in shops. the banks have been closed for six days. and the effects are becoming steadily more apparent in every day life. a colleague of mine went to buy a newspaper in a shop this morning and he put a note down

and he got the chocolate bars for change. so we will see where we are at the moment. >> thank you very much. we can now in go to our top story, barack obama's trip to the middle east, his first trip to israel and the west bank as president and he started off on the israeli side and crossed over for a few hours in ramala. i believe we can bring in nicole andston who is in ramala she has been following the president's trip. tell us what is happening so far. >> the two leaders have had a meeting and they have also had lunch. they met for an hour and a half. we are expecting a press conference to start anytime soon. three mainy to be things. to free settlement construction

, the 1967 lines, and the freeman release of palestinian political leaders. but the chances of getting these kinds of push out of the u.s. to put pressure on israel does seem are very remote. of it is believed that some this charm offensive is trying to win over the israeli public to try to get their trust, tube held their trust -- two build their trust is to put together process.e pr we won't know until president obama speaks in jerusalem later today. he will be speaking to israeli students. he said on wednesday night that he will be leaving his main comments about the palestinian meeting in his jerusalem. >> where is the relationship between president obama and the

palestinian authority's? >> it has really been it haship has been -- really been difficult in the last two years. the pushes to upgrade their status. they used tried to talk them out of it as much as they could. this has been a difficult issue between the palestinians and the u.s. administration. so relations aren't great da. the u.s. can't allow him to get to week because he is facing a great challenge from the hamas leadership which is clearly in control of the gaza strip. >> thank you very much.

we can now get more on this from our senior al jazeera political analyst. outlinedicole johnson a a few things there hoped to be achieved out of this visit. how do the palestinians view barack obama, particularly in the strip where he spends the majority of his trip in israel and just a few hours in the west bank? how do you think this is viewed theirre? >> i think the palestinians understand the special relationship between israel and the united states is based on a number of solid pillows with strategic economic or theological that they do not have with the palestinians. that before he was president in his speech that he has a bit of a heart toward the palestinians. but his mind and

his policies as a pragmatic american president are all the way on israel's side in the fact that he needs israel's commitment to calm things down both in palestine and in the middle east towards iran in order to be able to manage expectations and to run his very own domestic agenda at home. -- a had a fatwa member fata member earlier. it is palestinian security. what can the u.s. really do about palestinian security? >> it is paradoxical that the palestinian guard is funded to secure the israeli security. the listing to keep is down to keep settlers and israel safety guaranteed.

what could be most interesting out of this visit -- i'm going out on a ledge here -- i would say that the president would do it everything for the palestinians that would not upset the israelis. that is prepping up the palestinian authority, especially on economic level and the organizational level, in such a way that netanyahu once spoke of economic keys with the palestinians. they would like to see some prisoners released. he would like to have more spending on education, more bridging with gaza, more as such ay to govern palestinians state could -- state. >> it will be interesting to

see exactly what concrete comes out of this. thank you very much. the un human rights council has approved a resolution demanding that sri lankan government .nvestigate alleged war crimes rebels are accused of atrocities at the end of their civil war which lasted reggie six years. -- the issueiving strained relationships with india. proud, students from across chennai are making their feelings known and that the international community take a stand against sri lanka for human rights violations hearing human rights groups allege that there may have been were crimes committed during the final stages of the civil war in 2009. the conflict between the majority and the minority have

been going on for 30 years and it's relieved that 40,000 civilians may have died. an independent investigation possibly led by the un can sri lanka says it will not allow the international community interfere in its internal affairs. speaking without his ear on condition of anonymity, a former fighter and schoolteacher hiding schoolteacher now in india spoke with us. >> i lost my child when a bomb exploded now my home. i want to go back and i want my land back. but i know it's not safe for me. can the un really help? i don't know. -- i'mll come in and independent investigation herein atrocities did happen. i want the right to return home with dignity for me and thousands of others.

rex a 2011 un report found credible evidence that there may have been human rights abuses. they were safe in our hands. nobody had the intention of [indiscernible] >> file the indian government supports its sri lankan counterpart, relations have been strained. many indians have strong family connections. raised by the dmk have not been addressed. this is a government that does not partner in any way. if we continue to extend our support to the government, it is a distressed to the state. to withdrawdecided .mmediately from the government

>> last year, it voted for a u.s. -- a un resolution. as notays its position to interfere in the internal matters of another sovereign nation. many people and tamil politicians say it will continue position apparent. >> the government is unlikely to accept the un resolution. >> it would be wrong for the government to accept it because the whole idea of war crimes seems anathema to them -- anathema. in the course of the war, there may have been a need for incidents of investigation. but there has been a tendency

described as the illegal [indiscernible] that were not meant to investigate properly. that. absolutely reject three years ago, some countries tried to it that chris -- tried .o have a counter resolution however, since then, we have not moved that quickly on the resolution and some countries believe we should move on the confirmation. other countries have explained that they have been under pressure. i think the main problem is the politicos -- the politicization of the un and those with like- minded countries that a from the premises human rights reject the politicization of human rights as a standard. >> the leader of the pkk is

expected to call for a cease- fire over the turkish government di. put onolds, it could hold the fight between rebels and the turkish army. dana, there are celebrations there on many counts, particularly because they are anticipating news. fill us in. any time now, we are supposed to hear from a message from leaders are littered from the political allies in parliament for the pkk party. this is a massive rally. kurds are celebrating their new year today. but today is also about something else. incould be a new beginning the relationship between the turkish government and the kurdish community in this country, a community that has long complained of a marginalized, tact, sidelined

and denied lines -- denied rights. presentxpecting him to a roadmap for these. we know that he has been involved in peace negotiations with the turkish government. it seems the announcement has been made. can you give us the significance of this announcement? >> we are listening to the announcement right now. unfortunately, it's in turkish. we are waiting to translate that. we will bring more details shortly. we are expecting a detailed map of how osalan sees a future peace process with the turkish government here in cash government. -- theyt to make sure want to know what is in return. i don't want this to be seen as

a kurdish surrender. they want to know what the turkish government will give them in return. we don't have official confirmation. we know the turkish government rights to theore kurds in the turkish constitution. >> thank you. they prime minister has formally apologized to babies mothers. beside been forcibly adopted in australia between the 1950s and the 1970s an. pre-k's her son was born in 1961, but for fifth day years, she never set eyes on him. the moment he was born and against her wishes, he was taken away from her. she was 17 and unmarried. in the eyes of many people in authority, she was not fit to be a mother. her son was adopted

and had a happy life that she knew nothing about until two years ago. >> i can understand that you may in receivingve this after 50 years. dear rod, i have read your letter a hundred times. you are right. we are strangers. we aren strangers meet, strangers no more. there was always something missing in my life and that was my baby. what made them think that they had the right to do that to us and to children? that their own mothers couldn't look after them? i honestly can't understand it did i cannot understand it. >> they wanted to be there in person to hear australia's prime minister say sorry for what happened to mothers of a

quarter of a million australian babies between the 1950s and 1970s. julia gillard talked about mothers who have been cheated of their babies. >> i do not see their babies face. i could not see their babies first cries. never felt there babies warm for smoke their babies skin. we offer you all unreserved apology. i saying sorry, week and correct the historical record. we can declare that these mothers did nothing wrong. [applause] >> hospitals, charities, churches and bureaucrats had all been complicit, the prime ministers said. it was they who had done wrong. were mothers and their grown up voted today, the hope is not just the their experiences never repeated, but that this apology puts to rest once and for all a shameful episode in australia's history. >> that apology was somewhat

overshadowed a challenge to julia gillard's leadership just a few hours ago. premised are agreed to hold a vote after the government said that they that -- that she should step down as leader. that former minister kevin judd stand againstnot her. christ today, the leadership of our political arteries, the labour party, has been settled in the most conclusive fashion possible. the whole is this is completely at an end. it has ended now. >> i believe we can now go back to dana who is live for us at a , waiting forey what is being billed as a historic announcement. dana, i will throw it to you right away. rex the message from the

imprisoned leader of the pkk calling for a cease-fire and calling on pkk fighters in turkey to with draw. he is also saying that the time is for these and for guns to full-sized and. to fall silent. agreedactly has been with the turkish government, we do not know what the turkish government will give the kurds in return. we do understand from reports, from unconfirmed reports that they will give the kurds and their rights and insure the mini constitution like i said, we still do not have details. , the leader of the tradition movement, is now seen as a peacemaker. what you see behind me as an endorsement of the call. if this was a referendum, this

is an overwhelming yes. talk to people here and they say, yes, we want peace. want the conflict to end. some say really that is one of the reasons why both sides have come together to end this military stalemate. there are politics involved. the ruling party, if they get the kurdish parties on their side, they will be able to amend ie constitution to allow the minister to run for presidency next year. the turks are really worried about the growing strength of kurds. affiliated to the pkk along its borders with syria. >> you mentioned one of the key points. many people do agree with this, at the same time, there have been issues with the pkk fighters up in the mountains and others winter groups. how confident is the turkish government and the pkk that they can rain this in and go with this peace process?

mentioned, there are splinter groups, military commanders. it is a military wing of the pkk. i have welcomed the call for peace. they say they trust their leader. the same time, they expressed reservations. he said, we do not trust the turkish government. for example, if we agree from turkey, how are we guaranteed safe passage? both sides tried to come to a peace deal. but this time around, there is a better chance. -- >> iderstand there understand there are not many details out there, but what with the pkk caget out of this? why would there be a deal now? rex some would say that ocalan is fighting for their freedom.

most of the packers say there will be no peace unless the imprisoned leader is freed from jail. or is a letter politics here. have to remember that the kurdish issue is not confined to turkey. the kurds are spread into four different countries, iran, syria, turkey. i have a lot of benefits if they afford peace with the pkk. and neutralize them. that means that the affiliates of the pkk in iraq and serial automatically are weakened -- and syria are weakened. , they say, yes, we are welcoming this move by our leader. but if we feel that is his ace render, i his influence over -- a surrender, his influence may wane. >> you have spoken to the people on the ground. one of the wings you mentioned

is for him to walk freely. what do they get out of this, the public, not just politically? >> they want to be treated as equal citizens. you want rights. want to be able to learn tradition schools. -- they want the constitution to say that they are citizens of this country, to not be marginalized, to bfree activists who have been jailed for years. exploited anti-terrorism laws to clamp down on their movement. us is about a feeling of equal citizens and ricky ocean. i think this -- it is about a feeling of equal citizens and recognition. for years, they have been being partorists and

of a terrorist organization. they believe that it is ocalan who can bring these and who can exert authority over the kurds.